China Takes Action Over ‘Ip Man 3′ Box-Office Sales

China’s film regulators suspended the license of a film distributor for inflating ticket sales for the movie “Ip Man 3,” state media said, sending a broad message against box-office fraud. As WSJ’s Laurie Burkitt reports:

According to China’s official Xinhua News Agency, distributor Dayinmu Film Distribution, also known as Beijing Max Screen, admitted to having purchased 56 million yuan ($8.7 million) of tickets to the Chinese martial-arts movie that opened in China early this month.

In addition, “conspirators fabricated more than 7,600 screenings of the film that they claimed generated 32 million yuan in ticket sales,” Xinhua said, citing a statement from China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

Dayinmu didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The regulator said it had ordered Dayinmu to suspend distribution for a month and had given formal warnings to three electronic ticket-selling groups and 73 movie theaters, Xinhua reported.